
PERSONAL
DATA: Born
October 8, 1959, in Lima, Peru. Considers Santa Clara, California, to
be his hometown. Married to the former Wendy L. Thatcher. They have
five children. He enjoys flying, running, snow skiing, racquetball,
and spending time with his children. His parents, Rodolfo and Nora Noriega,
reside in Gilbert, Arizona. Her parents, John and Elizabeth Thatcher,
reside in Honolulu, Hawaii.
EDUCATION:
Graduated from Wilcox High School, Santa Clara, California, in 1977.
Bachelor of science degree in computer science from University of Southern
California, 1981. Master of science degree in computer science from
the Naval Postgraduate School, 1990. Master of science degree in space
systems operations from the Naval Postgraduate School, 1990.
SPECIAL
HONORS: Defense Superior Service Medal, Defense Meritorious
Service Medal, Air Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device, Air Medal
(Strike Flight Award), Navy Achievement Medal, NASA Space Flight Medal.
EXPERIENCE:
Noriega was a member of the Navy ROTC unit and received his commission
in the United States Marine Corps at the University of Southern California
in 1981. Following graduation from flight school, he flew CH-46 Sea
Knight helicopters with HMM-165 from 1983 to 1985 at Marine Corps Air
Station (MCAS) Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Noriega made two 6-month shipboard
deployments in the West Pacific/Indian Ocean including operations in
support of the Multi-National Peacekeeping Force in Beirut, Lebanon.
He completed his tour in Hawaii as the Base Operations Officer for Marine
Air Base Squadron 24. In 1986, he was transferred to MCAS Tustin, California,
where he served as the aviation safety officer and instructor pilot
with HMT-301. In 1988, Noriega was selected to attend the Naval Postgraduate
School in Monterey, California, where he earned two master of science
degrees. Upon graduation in September 1990, he was assigned to United
States Space Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In addition to serving
as a Space Surveillance Center Commander, he was responsible for several
software development projects and was ultimately the command representative
for the development and integration of the major space and missile warning
computer system upgrades for Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base. At the
time of his selection, he was serving on the staff of the 1st Marine
Aircraft Wing in Okinawa, Japan. He has logged approximately 2,200 flight
hours in various fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft.
NASA
EXPERIENCE:
Selected by NASA in December 1994, Noriega reported to the Johnson Space
Center in March 1995. He completed a year of training and evaluation,
and was qualified for assignment as a mission specialist in May 1996.
He has had technical assignments in the Astronaut Office EVA/Robotics
and Operations Planning Branches. He flew on STS-84 in 1997 and has
logged over 221 hours in space. Lt. Col. Noriega will serve on the crew
of STS-97, the fifth Space Shuttle mission dedicated to the assembly
of the International Space Station. STS-97 will bring the P6 Integrated
Truss segment which provides electrical power and heat dissipation to
the station. He is scheduled to conduct 2 space walks on this mission.
Launch is targeted for late 2000.
SPACE
FLIGHT EXPERIENCE:
STS-84 (May 15-24, 1997), was NASA's sixth Shuttle mission to rendezvous
and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. During this 9-day mission
the crew aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis conducted a number of secondary
experiments, and transferred nearly 4 tons of supplies and experiment
equipment between Atlantis and the Mir station. During STS-84 Noriega
logged a total of 221 hours and 20 minutes in space traveling 3.6 million
miles in 144 orbits of the Earth.
OCTOBER
2000